Home stretch: North Stars host Knights

The stretch run of the 2010 American Legion baseball season is officially here.

And the Havre North Stars are hoping they've hit their stride at just the right time.

The North Stars begin a stretch eight conference games this week today against Medicine Hat at Legion Field. The doubleheader with the Knights gets underway at 1.

Havre comes into the final week of the regular season with Northern District doubleheaders against the Knights, four games against the Vauxhall Spurs and a pair of games against the Fort MacLeod Royals. Six of those eight games are at home with the North Stars taking on the Spurs on Wednesday and the Royals on Friday.

The North Stars are currently 9-7 in district play, and sit in second place in the standings. With a league so tightly bunched together, by the end of the week, Havre could finish atop the standings or fall all the way to fifth place depending on what happens over the next eight games.

But the North Stars have built some much-needed momentum.

At last weekend's Glendive Tournament, Havre dropped its opener to Lewistown, then reeled off four straight impressive wins to capture the team title and improve its overall record to 23-18. The key to the North Stars' success last weekend in Glendive, and what has been steady all season, is pitching. Havre's main rotation of Roman Surber, Kyle Miller, Justin Jensen, Brandon Smith, CJ Evans and Mark Vukasin has been steady and all of the pitchers have been innings-eaters this season. Smith was especially good last week in Glendive, earning pitching MVP honors, but Havre head coach Steve Fanning said, three North Star pitchers could have won that award, Havre pitched that well.

Pitching is key to any team come district tournament time, but it will be key for Havre this week too. Havre has yet to face Vauxhall this season, but against the Knights and Royals, the North Stars were 2-2 on the road.

They'll be looking to improve upon that mark this week.

But to finish strong, the North Stars must play well in all phases of the game, just as they did in their four wins in Glendive. Havre has had lapses defensively this season, but when the North Stars pitch well, and defend, they are extremely tough to beat.

At the plate, the North Stars have also been up-and-down, but in the last week, they've come on strong throughout the order. Miller and Smith have been red-hot for weeks now, and the duo has combined to hit nine homeruns this season. They are 1-2 in RBIs as well, but they're also getting help from their friends.

The return of veteran Shane Kemmer has bolstered the Havre lineup.

Kemmer has been on a tear since returning to the lineup three weeks ago, while Justin Jensen, Evans and Adam Briese have also been hitting well, as has Vukasin.

What today's games come down to, as well as the rest of the season, is consistency. If the North Stars play at a high level for seven innings each game out, they have the potential to make a deep postseason run which could take them all the way to Billings and the Class A state tournament.

Today's games between the North Stars and the Medicine Hate Knights will start at 1 at Legion Field.

Tuesday's games between Vauxhall and Havre are slated to start at 3 p.m. Havre also plays host to Vauxhall on Friday at 5 p.m.